Nothing ventured .... Nothing gained.

Posted by Rosie

Lettuce seedlings - Feb 2014

When I went to get animal food a couple of days ago, there were lots of new plants lurking outside just shouting at me to buy them - there were fruit bushes, plenty of primulas and some early flowering daffodils to name a few.  I was good though, I resisted all of these (just) but then I noticed something lurking that I wasn't able to resist!  This little packet of lettuce seedlings.

Lettuce - in February?  I know.  In previous years at this time we have been under snow or down to minus 12 degrees C.  But this winter has been very different. With the Jet Stream stuck firmly in the Atlantic, this part of France together with Ireland and the UK have all been hit by southerly or westerly winds resulting in hardly any frosts, no snow but plenty of rain and wind.  Far too much in fact as any readers from these parts will know all too well. 

According to the BBC weather forecast the Jet Stream is unlikely to move for a while so this pattern of weather could continue ... and I have a polytunnel ;).  The plastic won't protect the plants inside from severe cold but it will protect them from slight frost and more importantly from lashing rain and strong winds.  The soil is workable and if the temperature does drop I can cover the lettuces with fleece.  They were also marked as being suitable to plant out February-March so with all this in mind buying and planting them seemed a risk worth taking.  Well that was what I told myself as I handed over my 3€ for the 12 little seedlings.

I'll let you know in a few weeks if my plan to get early lettuce was a great success or Mother Nature conspires against me and my little seedlings perish.  Anyone wish to hazard a guess as to their outcome?  You can also see what other gardeners have been up to recently through the How Does Your Garden Grow blog link below: